Jolla’s First Smartphone May Be Announced in May; Crowd-sourced Funding May Follow

Jolla chairman Antti Saarnio may have revealed some tantalising information regarding the company’s first smartphone. The Finnish mobile startups may be ready to take the wraps off their upcoming smartphone running on the new Sailfish operating system as early as next month, despite CEO Marc Dillon’s comments back at MWC in February stating availability of the device much later this year.

Apparently, the move is designed to be completely different from what other OEMs do for device launches. Also, given the limited funding that the company has, this early unveiling will also help rein in potential investors and partners into what the company calls the Jolla “movement”. As for the device itself, Saarnio was quoted as saying it will “represent modern Scandinavian design”.

True to its startup roots, Jolla may also crowd-source funding from its large fanbase, Saarnio adds. The success of the Pebble smartwatch from its Kickstarter programs may see Jolla offering pre-orders for its first smartphone from a Finnish crowd-funding site, where early adopters will be given a unique device, whether in terms of hardware or even in the UI. Also, similar to other crowd-funding initiatives, larger “advance payments” will see more unique and tailored features included in the device.